GAME BYTES 10/18: "Watch Dogs" Delay delivers next-gen blow

Published: Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 1:39 p.m.

The next generation of gaming hardware begins in just four weeks, but its start took a blow this week when Ubisoft announced that its heavily anticipated “Watch Dogs” game, which was planned for release on both new consoles at their launches as well as the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, is being delayed until the spring of 2014.

That's wild news for a number of reasons, and not just that four weeks out from release is the latest delay for a major title since 2007 when “Grand Theft Auto IV” was bumped from its September launch just three weeks from the big day. While that was extremely painful, I think this instance with “Watch Dogs” is much worse for Sony and Microsoft — Sony especially.

Even though “Watch Dogs” is a cross-generation title, it was a significant mover of new hardware; Ubisoft and Sony arranged for a PlayStation 4 launch-day bundle for the console that included a copy of the game, and that was the most ordered edition of the platform to date. Though the Xbox One had no sanctioned game bundles in North America (Europe gets a copy of the latest FIFA), Gamestop took it upon itself to create its own bundle for “Watch Dogs” and the Xbox One, and that was selling well, too.

But while “Watch Dogs” was just the third-top-selling day-one title for the Xbox One (behind “Call of Duty: Ghosts” and “Ryse: Son of Rome”), it was the No. 1 day-one game for PlayStation 4. Heretofore, the PS4 had been dominating the Xbox One in pre-orders, and “Watch Dogs” was almost certainly aiding that cause.

Despite that, the PS4 is still the best option of the two new consoles in the long term, and I doubt many folks who have a PS4 on order will be switching to the Xbox One this week (coincidentally, Best Buy announced on Monday it has more Xbox Ones available for order for the first time in a month or so). I do think, however, that a significant number of people will or have already canceled pre-orders on the new console.

Retailers are scrambling to figure out what to do with those who ordered console bundles with the game, as apparently they were caught off-guard by the delay announcement. The consoles themselves will be delivered as planned, of course. Gamestop has said it will allow customers to either stick with the bundle they ordered, with “Watch Dogs” coming when it comes, or switch to another launch-day bundle at whatever the other bundle's price is, and I imagine Amazon will do the same. The most important thing is that people who did get in an order early enough that the console will arrive on launch day won't lose that.

All that said, the exciting start to a new generation just got considerably less exciting for many people. I'm OK with the delay, just because I will have enough games to deal with when these new consoles roll out, but for a lot of folks “Watch Dogs” was the game they were going to use to kickstart the new generation. It probably still will be for many; it's just that the generation will begin for them later than anticipated.

Considering that demand for the PlayStation 4 in particular has far outstripped the anticipated supply, that's not really the worst possible outcome. n